Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I will concentrate on the area of road safety and the Government's grim record in that regard. The number of fatalities on the roads has steadily risen in recent years from 335 in 2003 to 396 last year. Regrettably, those numbers seem to be heading for more than 400 this year. Behind this trend is the devastating impact of death and serious injury on thousands of families. The impact has been most acutely felt in respect of young people. We now know that one in four drivers killed on the roads is aged under 25 years, as are 40% of those who die in motorcycle collisions. To put these figures in context, one must bear in mind the number of drivers under 25 years of age is only approximately 12% of the total.

As I have often stated, the Government is not to blame for these deaths. However, it is undoubtedly responsible for addressing the key causes behind them and serious injuries. In that regard, it has dismally failed to live up to its responsibility. The fact that legislation was only passed today to introduce much needed measures such as privatising the operation of speed cameras, mandatory breath testing and banning the use of mobile phones while driving says a lot about the low priority road safety is afforded by the Government. One can add to this the fact that the Rules of the Road are 14 years out of date, driving instructors are in no way regulated and there is still no compulsory practical instruction for motorcyclists.

The fact of the matter is that many measures included in the road safety strategy have been dragged from the Government as a result of pressure from the public, the media and the Opposition. The more I examine that document, the more I am convinced it was rushed out for media purposes without being properly thought through. The Government has not even been able to set a target for serious injuries because it cannot agree on the definitions. The strategy stated the target would be set in the first annual review. Not only was no target set, but there has not even been an annual review of the strategy. The target of 11 million speed checks for the current year, probably the most important road safety target, was simply ignored by the Government. Even now when the Road Safety Bill has been passed, it will still be several months before all of these long promised measures are in place.

Tenders have not yet been sought for the operation of speed cameras and we know it will be the end of the year at the earliest before they are in place. That is simply inexcusable. We still do not have an explanation from the Government, the Garda Síochána or the Attorney General's office as to why we had to wait so long for the introduction of random breath testing. Suddenly it seems the phantom constitutional problems have disappeared.

In the area of driver testing there is the scandalous situation where 410,000 provisional drivers are on the roads, while waiting times for tests are up to 12 months. There is a long litany of delays and missed targets, as there is in so many other areas of Government activity. The problem regarding road safety is that when it comes to incompetence and delays, it involves life and death issues. When it comes to the next general election — the sooner it happens the better — a large percentage of the public simply will not forgive the Government for its incompetence in this critical area.

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